Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

किं वंश्यस्त्वेष किं गोत्रः किं देशीयः किमात्मकः । किं वृत्तिः किं समाचारो विपा दी वृषवाहनः

Transliteration

kiṃ vaṃśyastveṣa kiṃ gotraḥ kiṃ deśīyaḥ kimātmakaḥ | kiṃ vṛttiḥ kiṃ samācāro vipā dī vṛṣavāhanaḥ

Translation

他出自何等族系？属何等氏族（gotra）？来自何方土地——其本性究竟如何？以何为生，有何风俗——那位以公牛为旗帜者，常被种种怪异灾厄所环绕？

Word by Word

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun)

• वंश्यः: of what lineage
• वंश्यः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vaṃśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण (adjectival)

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/विरोधार्थक निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• एषः: this (man)
• एषः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eṣa (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; संकेतवाचक सर्वनाम (demonstrative pronoun)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• गोत्रः: clan/gotra
• गोत्रः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gotra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• देशीयः: from which country/region
• देशीयः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: deśīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• आत्मकः: of what nature
• आत्मकः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ātmaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण (having the nature of)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• वृत्तिः: occupation/conduct
• वृत्तिः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛtti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• समाचारः: custom/behavior
• समाचारः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• विपादि: having deformed/odd feet (epithet)
• विपादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vipādin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण; (पाठभेद: ‘विपादि’ = ‘विपादिन्’/‘विपाद’ इति)

• वृषवाहनः: he whose vehicle is a bull
• वृषवाहनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣa + vāhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (vṛṣasya vāhanam iti)

Speaker

Dakṣa (as reported in Skanda’s narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A courtly or learned assembly in Kāśī debates the identity of the bull-bannered ascetic-god; figures gesture in questioning while, in the background, a hint of cremation-ground and a distant liṅga-shrine suggests the Lord’s true locus beyond society.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (vṛṣavāhana)
• Dakṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reducing the divine to social labels (lineage, region, custom) is ignorance; true dharma recognizes transcendent reality beyond egoic categories.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the teaching is embedded within the Kāśī-centered Purāṇic discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is polemical speech revealing Dakṣa’s adharma of contempt.